Alan Gardner, a professional actor, theater teacher and director who performed in dozens of Birmingham plays including a one-man show about Theodore Roosevelt called "Bully," inspired many drama students and people who loved theater, friends say.

Gardner died Oct. 27. He was 48.

Gardner co-founded City Equity Theatre, a professional theater company in Birmingham, in 2006 with Jonathan Fuller as co-artistic director.

They produced 20 plays from 2006-2015, Fuller said.

"He was incredibly loyal and supportive," Fuller said. "He was quite a storyteller. He was very gregarious, very inspirational to his students. His passion for theater and carrying it forward in Birmingham kept him going."

Gardner graduated from Berry High School in 1986 and earned a theater degree from UAB, where he met his wife, Francie Holder. They moved to Atlanta, Denver and New York to pursue acting. He earned a master of fine arts degree in acting from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994.

In 1995, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting careers but returned to Alabama to raise their four sons.

"I enjoyed a lot of things about LA, but one of the things I learned about LA is that I didn't really want to live in LA," he said in an interview several years ago. "I missed a lot of things about home. I also bugged Francie all the time -- every time we'd see a coffee shop, or an empty store, or an empty space -- anything that would make a cool theater."

Gardner's drama teacher at Berry High School was Sandra Taylor, who helped get him a full scholarship at UAB and guest directed his first play at UAB. "He was a wonderful actor," Taylor said.

She encouraged him to go to Hollywood, and he did.

Gardner landed several movie roles, including a part in the 2005 film "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Gardner played the Texarkana stage manager.

"He had some great stories about being on the set with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon," Taylor said.

A decade earlier, in 1995, he had a role as a driver in "Sudden Death," though his part got cut back, Taylor said.

"He was cast in a good role in 'Sudden Death,' with Jean Claude Van Damme," Taylor said. "He was in the dressing room and they knocked on his door and said, 'We'd like to speak to you.' They cut his part. He said, 'Have I done anything wrong?' They said, 'No, we're going to edit the script.' That happens all the time."

He also had roles in the independent films "Rustin" in 2001 and "Company M: A Mob of Soldiers" in 2012.

Gardner and his wife co-founded South City Theater, which continues to produce plays in Shelby County.

Alan Gardner, dressed in costume as Teddy Roosevelt, performed the play 'Bully' in Birmingham and also at Huntingdon College in Montgomery in 2010.Remembering Alan Gardner Facebook Page

Gardner taught theater for 17 years, at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Vestavia Hills High School and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. "What Alan really wanted to do was act, but he ended up falling in love with teaching," said Taylor, who helped get him early teaching jobs at Homewood and Hoover High Schools.

In 2006, Gardner and Fuller did a two-man drama by David Mamet, "American Buffalo," in a storefront across from the Alabama Theatre.

"The play takes place in a junk shop," Fuller said. "We made it an environmental thing. It went so well, we decided to form a company."

They were both Equity actors, members of the professional actors' union, and wanted Birmingham to have an Equity theater. "We started doing shows in the summertime, about three productions a year," Fuller said. "We got a board, formed a non-profit, right before the economy crashed. It was a struggle all the way through, but we always remained in the black."

Gardner had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in 2010 after his performance as Teddy Roosevelt, underwent surgery, and endured continuous health struggles while still acting and directing, Fuller said.

"He was deeply committed; he had theater in his blood," said Tom Wofford, who worked with him as a director. "He liked meaty, gritty theater; he understood characters."

Taylor, who directed Gardner in high school and college, also directed him last year in his final performance, in "Bill W. and Dr. Bob," about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

"He was brilliant as Dr. Bob," Taylor said. "He was a wonderful actor."